Share this

The Republicans will fight light cornered wolverines to defend Coleman's seat, and it will likely go up to the Supreme Court. The Minnesota Court will not hand down a decision until June. Pawlenty may not issue a certificate of election pending a US Supreme Court ruling. Republicans will filibuster an attempt to seat Franken before that and no Republican will cross party lines to vote cloture on the motion to seat him. Beyond that, the 60-vote threshold will depend on the issue. On energy votes, the Democrats cannot count on the energy-state Democrats: Begich, Bingaman, Landrieu or even the senators whose states are heavily dependent on coal-fired power plants. And that's just one issue. Savor the moment, but don't get carried away.

More POLITICO Arena

About the Arena

The Arena is a cross-party, cross-discipline forum for intelligent and lively conversation about political and policy issues. Contributors have been selected by POLITICO staff and editors. David Mark, Arena's moderator, is a Senior Editor at POLITICO. Each morning, POLITICO sends a question based on that day's news to all contributors.